Increasingly, at least as far as I can see, the micro sites are offering greater choices, and, at least in some cases, better choices as well. It seems logical…hundreds of thousands of shooters contributing photos to an agency as opposed to thousands.
A photographer friend of mine has been interviewing reps lately. He is one of the many stock shooters who have decided to hedge his bets by going after assignment photography. He is hopeful that a rep will be the answer to his problems…the "magic bullet" if you will.
Few things can be as rewarding for a photographer as the vigorous pursuit of creativity (love that phrase...read it in the latest issue of CA). Creativity is key to creating work that stands apart from the vast ocean of images and subsequently has value both in terms of monetary gain and in terms of personal satisfaction.
A few nights ago I attended an Adobe presentation about Photoshop CS5. As I sat there watching them demonstrate new technologies that makes painstaking tasks into a snap I first felt a bit of despair that we are taking one more large stride towards making my hard-earned skills less unique.
I did a search on Getty Images today while checking to see the competition that existed for an image idea I am considering creating. Then, just for the heck of it, I did the same search on iStockphoto. It was a bit of a revelation. Not only were there far more images, a couple of thousand rather than a couple of hundred, the iStockphoto images also included ones that were both higher in production value and more creative.
I made a decision that the look of my site was secondary to the optimization of it. It was a difficult decision to make…to create a text-heavy site. I even resisted it for several years. But eventually I came to believe that if someone was looking for an image, for whatever reason, then having them find that image, on my site, was more important than how the site looked.
I am sure I am not the only old time stock photographer who has harbored a secret desire to have Tony Stone, the man behind the "Stone" brand and the precursor to Getty Images, come back to stock and save us all. Well, he is back…and has joined with Vivozoom to help propel that micro stock agency to the forefront (read the article at Microstockdiaries). Careful what you wish for!
Ellen Boughn drew my attention to a blog post "The Case for Being Disruptively Good". In the post Umair Haque makes a case that long-term success requires being good (as opposed to being evil). This is especially true as the world becomes more connected and transparent. It is also true in our profession of photography.
If you want to thrive in the stock photography business I think it is best to take on a tortoise mentality. You need a thick shell to protect you from all the negative press and commentary that is constantly flying around. But perhaps more important, you need to practice a consistent and deliberate production of content maintained over a long period of time, to create a body of work that will support you.
There really aren't any secrets in stock photography. If you make more images, you earn more money. When you make better images you earn more money. If you make images that are relevant to the market, you make more money. If you make intelligent choices in your distribution…then you earn more money.
There are images that have become so identified with certain concepts that they not only ubiquitous but have become clichés as well. These "iconic" symbols are ubiquitous and often banal, but even then retain the power to communicate effectively. Such images include the light bulb to demonstrate "ideas", a life preserver for "rescue", and a lighthouse for "guidance". Another such symbol is the piggy bank. We see it everywhere, and we instantly know that the topic is finance of one sort or another.
Expert Author: John M. Lund | Category: Humor We all know that Elephants are remarkable creatures, but until very recently we didn't know how remarkable. It was on a two-year expedition to previously unexplored regions of both Africa and South East Asia that I was able to gain the trust of these ponderous pachyderms to the point where they let me photograph them in their normally secret activities and feats that have never before been witnessed by humans.
Upon arriving in my studio this morning there was a message on my voice mail from an art buyer for a large corporation who was inquiring about an image of mine created to illustrate the concepts of social media and social networking. She had found the image doing a Google Image search.
In the interest of fairness I have to disclose that I am a part owner of Blend Images, a stock photo agency that I am about to praise. Tomorrow I am flying to Palm Springs to participate in a day of creative presentations (Saturday) by Blend Images for its photographers. Besides iStock, are there still any agencies that put on events for their contributors?
I have the privilege of seeing the sales reports from a dozen stock photographers. One thing that stands out to me from looking at all those reports is that there are many ways to succeed. Each of those photographers has their own style and approach. That point is accentuated to me by the fact that a core group of about six of us have often combined our efforts in group shoots…which means there are plenty of images shot by different photographers but using the same models in the same locations.
The last job I had before I could just shoot full time, was as a landscape laborer. Even after I was able to give up the odd jobs I remember my accountant suggesting to me that I get a 'real job". Years later one of my bookkeepers quit because, as she said, "you won't be in business a few months from now". I've had my share of ups and downs, but I have had determination.
I just spent hours trying to figure out how to post my blog onto my Facebook fan page. When I finally figured out how it was, uh, so simple! Yikes! The Internet is great at making me feel like an idiot. Oh well…. Facebook in particular humbles me constantly.
Not too long ago I blogged about feeling overworked. I illustrated the blog with a stock photo of a man's head exploding. I was mulling that image over in my mind, thinking about whether it would behoove me to create another version.
With all the negativity surrounding the future of stock photography, I think it might be a good idea to point out what I experience as the more positive indicators out there in this crazy world of stock photography.
My Animal Antics series of funny animal pictures began with my image of a cat with one yellow canary feather protruding from his smiling face. I originally created the image as a stock photo, but before I submitted it I was invited to exhibit at the Sausalito Art Festival (way back when it was unusual to be using Photoshop).
